Community Spotlight - mygamertagsucks

The Community Spotlight showcases those who are found helpful within the Community Forums or Ambassador Chat.

The Activision Community Team chooses the recipient, and the beneficiaries of this honor are featured within the community and given a spiffy care package to boot.

This month’s spotlight has been a member of the community since 2014, and can usually be found chatting it up in the Call of Duty: WWII forum space.

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Q:Tell us about yourself!

A: My name is Josh, and I have been a gamer for as long as I can remember. I guess you could say that gaming was bound to be in my blood, as my father has always been an avid video game fan and collector. In 1975, five years before I was born, Indiana had a terrible blizzard that shut down traffic in our town. However, my dad went out in the blizzard just to get his copy of Pong. My Dad is, by far, the one responsible for getting me into, and keeping me interested in video games. The first video game I remember playing and loving, was Pitfall for the Atari 2600, although I do not remember what I liked about it. The video game I played the most was a basketball game called "One-on-One: Erving vs. Bird." The fact that you could shatter the backboard was the thing that got me hooked on it.

Q:You’ve been a member of the community for quite a while, what keeps you engaged? What drives you to help others?

A: The two main things that keep me engaged in the community by far would have to be the community members themselves, and the amount of information that I have learned and continue to learn from several of the other posters. My desire to help others continues to be driven by the fact that I remember how frustrating it can be when you just don’t know something. In my case, I thought I knew how online gaming networking worked and found out fast how wrong I was.

Q:Would you mind explaining the origin of your hilarious forum name?

A: “Mygamertagsucks” was born out of a laughably terrible xbox360 profile that I was using when BO2 was in its life-cycle. I shared the profile with my nephew, who was maybe 11 at the time, and he’s the one who created a ridiculously, cringe-inducing Gamertag: “FormerProGamer.” For the record, I never claimed to be a pro gamer at anything. How and why he decided that this would be a good idea for a Gamertag is beyond me. Guess what people do when they think you are claiming to be a pro gamer: they target you and tell you how trash you are at the game. You would not believe the amount of "I killed you X times that match, maybe I should have been a pro gamer" messages I would get. So, that Gamertag, in fact, did suck. It still sucks to this day. And do you want to know how I responded to this lesson when I got my PS4? I created an equally cringe-worthy Gamertag of my own: "Froggersux." Now, I frequently hear "Froggersux? Come on, what's wrong with Frogger, man?" My forum name is merely a reflection of my past gamertags.

Q: What are some of your favorite games, and what makes them your favorite?

A: Some of my favorite games of the past include “Gorf” for the Colecovision and 007 for the SNES. My introduction to multiplayer did not take place until“GoldenEye” on N64, and ever since then, I discovered that I’d much rather play against real people as opposed to playing a campaign. I also played the heck out of “Medal of Honor. “

Currently, I only play a few games on my PS4. Obviously, Call of Duty gets the majority of my playing time. At the moment, I'm playing WWII and enjoy having to adapt to a slower paced CoD. I loved the futuristic CoDs but hated how it divided the community. I enjoy “Titanfall 2” and “Overwatch” in small doses as well.

Q: Do you have a favorite Call of Duty title? Do you have a preferred game mode?

A: I would say CoD:BO2 would have to be my favorite Call of Duty title, even if nostalgia clouds my recollection of that game. It was the first CoD that I played, split-screen at the time, with my nephew. We spent his entire summer vacation staying up late playing multiplayer together. As for my favorite game mode, I have always enjoyed playing hardcore Kill Confirmed and Hardcore Team Death Match. My fondness for hardcore game modes lies in the fact that I enjoy going for headshots, and I can remember countless times in core, shooting someone in the head with my weapon and getting a hitmarker. Headshot hitmarkers was frustrating enough, but having that same player then turn around and kill you got old, fast. Hardcore takes care of that problem.

Q:When you’re not cruising the forums, what do you like to do in your free time?

A: When I'm not posting on the forums, one thing that I enjoy is pointed-pen calligraphy. I also have an unbelievably awesome beagle, and she gets the majority of my time. Either taking her for walks or taking her for rides in the car- she is my constant companion.

Q: Tell us more about your unbelievably awesome beagle.

A:Her name is Piper, and she is a full-blooded beagle. She’s also a rescue dog that came in one day while I was volunteering at our local humane society. My nephew and I had no plans of going to the humane society that day, but we needed to waste some time and just happened to be close by, so we decided to stop in and lend a hand. Every time I volunteered before that day, I was also hoping to find a dog to adopt, but never had that "connection" with any of them. However, as soon as I saw Piper being led into her cage, I knew she was going to be my dog. By 5:00 PM that same day, we had signed the papers to adopt her. She is, without a doubt, the best dog I could ever ask for. She loves everybody and is an absolute baby-doll.

Q:What is your greatest gaming achievement?

A: My greatest gaming achievement as insignificant as it may seem, was when I did better than my nephew and led a lobby in BO2. That sounds stupid, but that kid seems to be great at every video game he plays. The worst part is, he’ll do well in CoD with odd weapons, like knives, while I struggle to get kills with whatever gun is considered "OP" at any given time.

Q: What is your most memorable discussion in the community?

A: The most memorable discussion I’ve had in the community was centered around a post I made showing how little I knew about online gaming networking and how it works. I remember feelingembarrassed after I posted it because I made some terrible claims that I could never, ever substantiate. However, individual members of the community seemingly took pity on me, and instead of giving me the well-deserved roasting, they took the time to link me to articles that I needed to read. I wasn't ridiculed or made fun of, they only said, "look, dude, you're wrong. I'll link you to some articles that explain how things do work, though." That discussion was memorable because it reminded me never to assume that I know more than I do. Thanks to that one lousy post of mine, I now have a much better understanding of how games use data, and why things work as they do.

Q: What guidance would you give other members on being more supportive within the community?

A: The best advice I can give to others regarding being more supportive is simple: Remember that at one point, you did not know as much as you do now. When you respond to a post that you know to be factually incorrect, take that time to educate the person you are responding to without being condescending.

Congratulations @mygamertagsucks! Thank you for being such a positive presence in our community.

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